Kohl Party Chairman Leaves Post

February 16, 2000

The chairman of Germany's embattled Christian Democrats announced Wednesday he will give up his leadership posts so an untainted generation of leaders can help the party recover from its spiraling finance scandal. Wolfgang Schaeuble, 57, was former Chancellor Helmut Kohl's hand-picked successor as chairman after Kohl's 1998 election defeat. He also served as the party's leader in parliament since 1991. The party will elect a new chairman at its scheduled congress in April. "I have become convinced that the Union cannot free itself from the clutch of this crisis without a visible new beginning among the leadership," Schaeuble said. The announcement came after an emergency party meeting Tuesday night in which Schaeuble apparently was pressured to step down.